AMC to Raise Ticket Prices – Streaming From Home Becomes Even More Appealing
Going to the movies is about to get even more expensive for AMC customers – unless you want a neck-breaking first-row seat.
Movie theaters have been in trouble since the pandemic shut everything down in 2020. Recovery has been a slow, uphill climb. The chains have instituted all kinds of schemes to get butts back in seats – subscription services, low-cost tickets on off days, early release mystery movies, new projection formats, and offering certain movies at matinee prices all day. Anything they can do to compete with the advancement of home theaters and the comfort of potential customers’ living rooms.
AMC is testing a new pricing plan starting this weekend. It’s not exactly going over well.
guessing Nicole Kidman’s revised AMC Theaters monologue verbiage pic.twitter.com/U7WdNSapds
— Katie Baker (@katiebcomedy) February 6, 2023
New AMC Pricing
This isn’t the first time the theater chain has experimented with up charging. They raised prices for showings of The Batman in the US last year. AMC’s latest plan is to bring the tiered ticketing of live performance seating to movie theaters. The program is called Sightline. Theater seating will be broken up into three pricing levels based on how optimal the view of the screen is.
The neck-breaking seats, or “Value Sightline” (blue), will be offered at a discount, and the most optimal seats, or “Preferred Sightline” (gold), will be available for an upcharge. “Standard Sightline” seats (cream) will remain at the current price. At the moment, A-List members and those buying $5 Tuesday tickets won’t have to pay extra for preferred seats.
They’re testing the plan starting Friday at select AMC locations in New York, Chicago, and Kansas City. If the execs and AMC like the results, the new pricing will be expanded nationwide by the end of the year.
via WBNS
Sure…?
I understand this scheme’s reasoning, but I can’t see it making up for revenue the way they intend. Additional costs on top of the already high $14-$20 average ticket price will encourage people who are on the fence about going out to stay home. You can host a movie marathon at home with as many people as you can fit for less than $20. That choice is easy for most folks looking to have a fun night with friends and family.
On top of that, even though it’s a couple of bucks a ticket, the feeling of being squeezed by an international corporation (the largest theater chain in the world) for the same service will dissuade many.
Just making it easier for me to stay home on my comfy couch with my affordable snacks, oversized blanket, oled and surround sound. https://t.co/pPueS83r6K
— Stuart (@stuartheater) February 6, 2023
Eliot Hamlisch, AMC’s chief marketing officer, wants customers to think this is about power and choice rather than money.
“While every seat at AMC delivers an amazing moviegoing experience, we know there are some moviegoers who prioritize their specific seat and others who prioritize value moviegoing. Sightline at AMC accommodates both sentiments to help ensure that our guests have more control over their experience, so that every trip to an AMC is a great one.”
Sure, a level of monetary-powered control could be necessary for folks if the thing they want is selling out. Movie theaters are not. The only full theaters I’ve been in over the last six months have been free pre-release screeners. At full price, there are usually 10-20 people, maybe a handful more on an opening weekend. That’s not just an issue in my market.
“Ah! Perfect just the @AMCTheatres seat I wanted.”
“There’s literally no one else here. Why the fuck did I pay that extra money?” https://t.co/53djLeryW0 pic.twitter.com/XVDDAuDuTb
— Benjamin Siemon (@BenjaminJS) February 6, 2023
Push Back Against AMC
Folks have been vocal about the plan online. This is far from the first ticket price increase moviegoers have dealt with, but it’s hard to ignore the squeeze during times like this. Actor Elijah Wood spoke out against it…
The movie theater is and always has been a sacred democratic space for all and this new initiative by @AMCTheatres would essentially penalize people for lower income and reward for higher income.
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) February 6, 2023
The inevitable comparison will be to concert tickets. Ha haha hahah ha ha, sorry… ahem…
Movies are not live performances or sporting events. Seeing a movie is a question of which format, not a question of seeing a version that may never happen again or that you won’t see anywhere outside of one theater. Though filled with the stuff dreams are made of, thousands of movie houses across the country are not precious spaces for the elite. At least, they shouldn’t be.
I love seeing movies in theaters, turning off the world outside, and being immersed in a story. It should be accessible and affordable. You should be able to take your family to a wide-release movie and not have it demolish your bank account. At the same time, I get that the theater business is struggling and really wants those 2019 attendance numbers again. But raising prices like this isn’t how you get people to come back.
